Dubai: Labourers who rioted on Wednesday night and refused to work on Thursday returned to their construction site on Saturday.
Workers and safety officers on site confirmed most of the 2,000 labourers returned to work after protesting at their worksite at Dubai Marina, smashing company equipment, buses and machinery, and triggering a four-hour standoff with police.
The men, from Al Ahmadiah Contracting and Trading, also refused to work on Thursday.
Safety officers said the company had not come to any agreement with the men, who earlier said they wanted to cook their own food and better wages.
However, a company representative earlier said they did not have the land space to build a kitchen in the current labour accommodation.
He said a new labour accommodation had its own kitchen, which would partly resolve the workers' grievances, while insisting the catered food the men received was "very good."
He said "about five to ten per cent" of the protesting men had not yet returned to work. But when Gulf News visited an Ahmadiah labour accommodation, workers there said all the men had returned to work.
A salary slip given by a labourer to Gulf News showed a helper receives a basic salary of Dh450 and a special allowance of Dh150, Dh600 in total.
Four-way meeting postponed at last minute
A meeting which was scheduled yesterday between Labour Ministry officials, the Permanent Committee on Labour Affairs in Dubai (PCLAD), Al Ahmadiah company representatives and the Indian Consulate was postponed.
Sources told Gulf News the meeting was postponed at the last minute. No reason was given for the postponement.
